


We're All Mad Here

by Panthera_tigris



Category: Borderlands
Genre: Alternate Universe - Mental Institution, Eventual Smut, Grief/Mourning, Healing, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mental Instability, Minor Character Death, Schizophrenia
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-12
Updated: 2016-07-12
Packaged: 2018-07-23 12:20:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7463028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Panthera_tigris/pseuds/Panthera_tigris
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After a particularly bloody incident lands Rhys in the Helios Center for Mental Rehabilitation, Rhys meets a variety of interesting individuals. Including his new annoyingly handsome (and just annoying) roommate that Rhys probably shouldn't have feelings for. After all, meeting in a mental institution is a pretty big red flag.</p>
            </blockquote>





	We're All Mad Here

**Author's Note:**

> This is what happens when I play a lot of Borderlands while trying to finish out my Psych minor. I also have just a smidge of experience when it comes to being committed. whoops  
> Also vaguely inspired by Halsey's "Strange Love" so go listen to that if you're feelin' it

Everything felt fuzzy. Not the good kind of fuzzy, like a cat's ears or your toes buried in shag carpeting. Instead it was like there was way too much cotton shoved inside Rhys' head. His brain felt numb. Granted had his brain ever exactly felt? Obviously his brain felt, but didn't really _feel_ like anything. Except for headaches. But his rudimentary knowledge about the brain aside, he was pretty damn sure brains weren't supposed to feel like this.

The familiar weight of his prosthetic was gone from his shoulder but Rhys couldn't quite find the motivation to care. _Good riddance_. He could hear the sounds of activity around him, shuffling feet, random beeping, voices talking. Some of the voices familiar, wrapping around his head like a warm blanket and comforting him.

"-has to be done."

"Don't you think I know that?" One of the voices raised slightly and Rhys winced internally or externally- he wasn't entirely sure.

"Nooo." He felt himself whine. "Be nice."

A laugh came from someone seemingly far away. He tried to reach his organic arm towards the pleasant noise but found he could only lift it a few inches before something on his wrist stopped him. He tried again, harder this time, only to be stopped once again by the quiet clinking of metal.

"Sorry, honey. I'll be nicer." Suddenly one of the far away voices was very close and sad sounding and a pleasantly warm hand settled lightly on his cheek.

He knew that voice, that touch. _Yvette_. He smiled and leaned into her touch with a small pleased hum. Yvette was nice. Yvette was safe. She could help him with his arm or the fuzzies. Yvette could always help. She was his friend.

Rhys tried to will his eyes open to find out why she sounded sad, but like the majority of his body- they weren't quite listening.

"Go back to sleep, Rhys." She said quietly, carding a hand through his hair. "You'll feel better when you wake up okay?"

That sounded good. Really good. _Sleep is good_ , he decided. Sleep would probably make the fuzzies in his head go away. He was safe with Yvette here next to him. He hummed his assent and let his head snuggle deeper into the pillow under it, Yvette's hand a constant reassuring presence.

"Okay." Yvette let out a sad sigh. "Give me whatever papers you need me to sign."

Yvette's voice was far away again, her hand gone from his hair. Rhys wanted to complain, wanted to ask what she meant. Instead he found himself so close to the precipice of sleep, he didn't really care that much.

Yvette's voice mingled with the others, far away and muffled.

Sleep was good. Yes, sleep was good.

>>><<<

When Rhys finally woke up, like really woke up, whatever drugs they had given him had worked through his system. His head was clear but his entire body felt like he had been hit by a truck. Then said truck had backed up and ran over him a few more times for good measure.

His shoulder fucking hurt. He knew that his prosthetic was gone, just by the lack of weight. _Again- good riddance_. But his shoulder where the prosthetic usually connected to ached and throbbed to high hell. He tried to raise his other hand to probe at the joint, but a padded cuff around his wrist stopped him. He cracked one eye open and then the other. Glancing down at the bed, he saw that his arm was restrained to the side of the hospital bed. He pulled on it a few times for good measure but the metal links connecting the cuff to the bed were sturdy and not relenting. Rhys shifted to sit up straight but every muscle in his body seemed to scream in protest.

Yvette rushed over to his side from her chair in the corner before Rhys could properly start freaking out. He hadn't really noticed her presence while he was dealing with the whole being handcuffed to a hospital bed thing. _How did he even get to a hospital anyways?_ And possibly more concerning: why was he in said hospital seemingly against his will (if the handcuff had anything to say anything about it)?

"Morning Sunshine." She said, a small smile stretching across her face. "Or should I say afternoon, you sloth."

Rhys noticed almost immediately how swollen and red her eyes were and how her usually neat hair was messy and unkempt. His tired eyes fell lower, focusing on what seemed to be an angry crimson bloodstain as big as a basketball on the torso of her sweater. _Okay um, red flag._

"Are you okay?" Rhys asked, his throat dry and voice cracking and panic rising in his chest. Yvette let out a half sob- half laugh and subconsciously touched the stain on her sweater.

"You're the one in the hospital bed, but you ask me if I'm okay?" She chuckled, her voice exasperated.

"I-I'm sorry…? It just that's a lot of blood." Rhys brought his knees to his chest and Yvette sighed and rubbed at her brow. _It's probably his fault._

"It's not my blood, Rhys."

 _Suspicions confirmed_. An involuntary chill ran up his spine as he connected the blood to the ache emanating from his shoulder. He glanced down to find his upper body was wrapped in gauze from his shoulder to the edge of his ribcage. He let out an undignified noise somewhere between a sigh and a whine.

"What happened?" Rhys asked quietly, trying to hide the panic in his voice.

"You don't remember?" Yvette asked. Rhys nodded faintly, avoiding her gaze. He focused on counting the stitches in the scratchy blanket draped over his lap.

"Well…" Yvette started. Rhys could tell from her tone of voice that she was cocking her jaw to the side like she does whenever Rhys or Vaughn was in trouble. Like an angry mama hen. "I came home from work early yesterday and you had- had uh- gouged out the prosthetic."

"Good riddance though." Vaughn's cheerful voice suddenly chimed in from Rhys' other side. "Thing was freaky looking. Like a plastic sausage with fucking  fingers, know what I mean bro?"

Rhys snorted. He hadn't noticed Vaughn sitting there before. In fact he was like eighty percent sure that Vaughn was not there a minute ago. Alright, well maybe more like fifty or forty percent sure, he was still pretty out of it. Regardless, he was glad his friend was vaguely on his side of things while Yvette probably giving the both of them the stink eye.

"Do you think this is funny, Rhys?" Yvette exclaimed, suspiciously quietly. She took a step back and sagged into her chair, her hand once again rubbing at her brow. _Oh now you've fucked everything up, Rhys._

"What if I hadn't come home early?" She asked, just above a whisper. "There was so much goddamn blood Rhys. You- you could have died. Then what would I do?"

"Aww c'mon, Yvette." Rhys stuttered out, turning his rapt attention to the plastic hospital bracelet under the cuff of the restraint around his wrist. Oh hey, apparently he was on suicide watch. That was news. There were obviously a few blanks left to be filled. Rhys risked a glance over at Yvette.

"W-why am I on uh- suicide watch exactly? I can't be one hundred percent sure, but I don't think I was intending to kill myself sooo…" As soon as it was out of his mouth, Rhys wondered why he had chosen the whole no memory thing as a defense for all of this. If anything, missing such a huge chunk of time was even more of a warning sign regarding his deteriorating psyche. But he felt fine now-    whatever wonky patch he'd gone through, he was out of. So not remembering felt defensey to him…?

"Because obviously when I carried you into the emergency room with you bleeding all over the place rambling and basically hallucinating," Yvette sighed. "Medical professionals were concerned."

_What she means is that you're insane._

"Even if you didn't necessarily mean to," Vaughn piped up. "You still fucked yourself up pretty bad, bro. Can't help it if we're concerned."

Rhys made an exasperated face in Vaughn's direction. Yvette raised an eyebrow and looked from Rhys to the direction he was making the face in. She rolled her eyes and let out an overexaggerated groan/sigh combo. They sat in silence for a few moments, the only noises were the beeping of a monitor somewhere and the bustle of activity in the hallway.

"So, what?" Rhys asked. "Just twenty four hours and then I can peace out, yeah? Like last time?"

Yvette swallowed audibly and both of his friends avoided looking directly at him. _Red flag numero dos._ Vaughn seemed to be preoccupied with staring at the cream yellow paint on the walls and Yvette was peering down at the comfy hospital booties on her feet in lieu of real shoes.

There was a gentle knock on the slightly ajar door before Rhys could get to the bottom of whatever the shit his friends' silence even meant. All three heads in the room turned towards the door, where a petite woman in teal scrubs was standing holding a clipboard to her chest.

"Sorry to interrupt but, Ms. Bamis?" The doctor/nurse/lady asked cheerfully.

"Yeah, that's me." Yvette smiled faintly at the woman and rose to her feet.

"The representative from The Helios Center is here and is ready to leave whenever you two are." She smiled and Yvette nodded. Helios? Rhys slumped back with a silent huff. _For shit's sake, they really do think you're insane_.

"We're probably going to need a few minutes…" Yvette said quietly, once again seeming to do everything bodily possible to not look back at Rhys who was attempting to glare holes in the back of her stupid dreadlocked head.

"Take as long as you need!" The teal-clad woman hummed and disappeared as quickly as she came.

Yvette stood with her arms crossed and her back to Rhys for a few more moments.

"Don't," Rhys had to remind himself to breathe. "Please don't do this, Yvette."

"It's already done, Rhys." She whispered and turned towards him, still avoiding his eyes. "I just can't do this with you anymore."

Rhys let out a tiny nervous chuckle. "What, you breaking up with me?" He joked, attempting to squash down the panic rising like bile in his throat. The voice in his head sang, _you fucked uuuuuup._

"I love you, Rhys. You know I do." Yvette said, combing her hand through her dreads. "I'm just not equipped to handle this."

"So you're shipping me off to some insane asylum?" Rhys protested meekly. _It's where you belong anyways. You don't really expect a normal life after what you did._

"Rhys please don't make this harder than it has to be." Yvette pleaded. "The Helios Center isn't some insane asylum where you'll be locked up forever. It’s a top of the line psychiatric care facility where you can get the help you need that I can't provide."

 _You deserve this_.

"I can't afford that." Rhys noted. "Neither can you."

"No but," Yvette noticably shifted on her feet. "Vaughn's parents were here earlier. They agreed to pay for it, as well as a knew prosthetic when you're ready."

Rhys made a face at no one in particular.

_Even more debts you owe to those two._

"They made me work a full time job to put myself through college." Vaughn laughed, attempting to inject some levity into a generally levity-free situation. "And yet for you, they spare no expense."

"They just like me more than you, Vaughn." Rhys quipped.

"Vaughn, right." Yvette sighed defeatedly. "You haven't been taking your medication, have you?"

 _Nope_.

Rhys hung his head and that was all the answer Yvette really needed.

"That’s why I'm doing this Rhys." Yvette said, barely above a whisper. "They can help you get better."

"Fine," Rhys conceded. "But just for a little while, though."

_You'll be in there forever._

"Of course, Rhys. I'll go get the representative and we'll get going." Yvette sighed in relief.

Rhys didn't look up from the blanket in his lap but heard the soft _pat_ of Yvettes booties start to walk away.

"And Rhys," Yvette cleared her throat. "You know Vaughn is dead, right?"


End file.
